Papua New Guinea prime minister steps down

ANKARA

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neill has formally resigned from his position on Wednesday, local media reported.

O’Neill told the country’s parliament that he delivered his resignation to Governor-General Bob Dadae, according to Business Advantage PNG, a local media outlet.

The outgoing premier was facing a vote of no-confidence in the South Pacific island nation and was likely to lose.

O’Neill had been in power since 2011 and new premier will be elected in parliament’s next session scheduled for Thursday, once the resignation is accepted by Dadae.

"For the interests of the ongoing political stability and to ensure that we create confidence in the business community and the economy so that we can continue to have social unity in the country, it is important that I vacate this seat so that we can be able to move on,” O’Neill told the parliament drawing applause from lawmakers.

The government of O’Neill was under intense pressure after it recently signed a $13 billion (€11.6 billion) deal with French and American oil giants Total and ExxonMobil to extract, pipe and ship liquefied natural gas overseas.

Local people had registered protest saying such deals did not benefit them in the past.

On May 7, O'Neill had escaped a no-confidence motion vote by obtaining a parliamentary adjournment.